


Every Me, Every You

by harshmorninglight



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Bad Brother Diego Hargreeves, Body Possession, Choking, Controlling a Body, Dark, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Dub/Non Con Elements, Emotional Manipulation, Evil Ben, Gaslighting, Ghost Sex, It's also kind of a twisted love story, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Lots of Angst, M/M, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sharing a Body, Slut Shaming, Smut, Unrequited Love, body issues, face fucking, seriously so dark, this is a ghost story, you'll see - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-05-02 04:07:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19191550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harshmorninglight/pseuds/harshmorninglight
Summary: Ben and Diego have a proposition for Klaus. Ben isn't willing to take no for an answer, but that's fine. Nobody knows how to get inside Klaus's head better than him.





	Every Me, Every You

**Author's Note:**

> I randomly had an idea for this fic after watching the Striking Vipers episode of Black Mirror; I was taken by the idea of using someone else's body to act out your wildest fantasies. Then I got to thinking about how I could link that in with Ben's ghostly form in TUA, and some of Klaus's capabilities, and I kind of ran away with the idea and made it very different to the original BM concept, much much darker and more depressing, which should surprise absolutely nobody that's read my TUA stuff.
> 
> Fair warning: Ben is a DICK in this. So is Diego, but there's probably hope for him. Ben is just a straight up manipulative asshole, because I've kind of been wanting to see more fics recently that explore that 'what if' subject of how being a ghost might have turned him cruel and bitter. I love Ben, you love Ben, we all love Ben: here, it's very, very difficult to even _like_ Ben.
> 
> Please read the tags - they're there for a good reason! - and let me know if you enjoyed it by leaving kudos or a comment. I suspect this is going to be pretty niche, but I'm proud of it! I do love a good old twisted ghost story.

“Klaus. Klaus, Klaus, _Klaaaauuusss_. I need to ask you a _big_ favour, bro.”

Klaus looks up from the magazine he’s reading to find Ben standing over him, his face pulled into an uncharacteristically vulnerable smile.

“Ben. Benny Ben. Ben Ben. Give me the deets, buddy.”

His heart is wobbling a little, truth be told. Seeing Ben _needing_ something from him always pulls on the heartstrings, because for so long Klaus was unable to give him anything other than his own company, hampered as he was by years of drugs and self abuse. Ben had had to wait _so_ long to have a relationship with his family again, and Klaus feels like he owes him the world now.

Ben sprawls out on the sofa next to him, the vulnerable smile faltering a little as he indicates for Klaus to put the magazine down. His brother is clearly nervous about something, and it’s a strange sight to see on the familiar face. Ben doesn’t really _do_ nerves, not since returning all those years ago. It reminds Klaus of when they were kids, when Ben was scared of his own shadow, and it makes Klaus’s stomach do a small flip.

Childhood flashbacks are rarely welcome memories.

“I… um… I know this is going to be _insanely_ awks, for several reasons, not least because… well, I know your feelings for Diego, and-”

“I do _not_ have feelings for Diego!” Klaus squawks, immediately defensive, because _goddamn you, Ben_ , is that really how they’re going to start the conversation? “Not anymore. Not… not since getting sober. Growing up. Not since Dave.”

“For real?” Ben asks, and Klaus nods adamantly, hoping Ben will drop it. “It’s just… the thing is,” His brother takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and psyches himself up. “We kind of… Diego and I… we kind of want to bone? Each other? And by kind of I mean… like... _so_ badly." 

 _Oh. Oh, wow_ , Klaus thinks. He must just be staring at Ben, dumbly, because Ben eventually has to crouch down in front of him and wave his hand in front of his face. “Are you in there, Klaus? A little response would be nice?”

“Uh… I...,” Klaus says, hoping that at any moment Ben is going to go _Joke! Wow, you’re so easy to play, Four_. But he doesn’t. He’s just crouching there, staring at him imploringly, and Klaus realises that he’s going to have to say something soon, and he’s going to have to swallow down his flood of anxieties like a horse-sized pill in order to do so.

“Well, that’s… I mean, that’s _wonderful_ , Ben, oh darling brother of mine. Just _peachy_. And I can hardly blame you, he really is looking like a three course meal these days! That beard?  _Niiiice_. But you _are_ aware there’s no way I can make you corporeal for that amount of time? Especially not… not doing _that_.”

It’s true, and Klaus, for once, is relieved of his own shortcomings when it comes to anchoring Ben to the physical world. They’ve made leaps and bounds with the non touch-related stuff - Ben is able to talk to anyone and everyone, he isn’t even tethered to Klaus a lot of the time anymore, and can wander the house on his own, having all the privacy he likes to bond with his other siblings. But physical touch is another matter entirely. Klaus can do it when the stakes are _really_ high - like, life or death situations - but for less pressing matters, even a few seconds leave him weak and drained, and that’s for relatively simple tasks like shaking someone’s hand. A whole session of banging? It’s quite frankly out of the question.

 _Thank God_.

“Yeah, I’m aware,” Ben says, and Klaus smiles in what he hopes looks like a sympathetic and non-gloating gesture. But then Ben continues, undeterred, “You know, though, there’s the _other_ way.”

“Oh.” The _other_ way.

The other way was discovered during a training session a couple of months back; Klaus had been focusing hard on making Ben fully corporeal for long enough to pick up a gun and shoot it; instead, he’d ended up as a passenger in his own body as Ben had leapt _into_ him and achieved it through controlling Klaus instead.

It had done the job, certainly, and unlike the first option, which requires all of Klaus’s concentration and energy, possessing his brother’s body has become a relatively simple activity for Ben, and a completely passive one for Klaus - if you discount the panicky feeling at the sensation of someone being _inside_ him.

(And, no, not the _fun_ kind of ‘inside him’.)

“Yeah, oh.” Ben looks vaguely apologetic, but not particularly embarrassed. The implications of it are clear. Klaus would have a front row view as Ben and Diego fuck. To all intents and purposes, it would feel a lot like Diego was fucking _him_.

Only… he wouldn’t be. Would he? _Would he_?! Klaus genuinely isn’t sure. How the fuck would this legitimately work? How is Ben even _entertaining_ the possibility of this being a realistic thing that can happen?

“Surely… surely that would be weird for Diego?” he tries, stomach churning in embarrassment when he hears his voice tremble a little. “He’d still be able to see, well, _me_.” _And he’s not interested in_ you, _never has been_ , a hurtful voice trills at him. “I mean, I know it would be you, technically, in terms of your… your… _spirit_ , I guess? But-”

“Klaus, no offence, but you’re _completely_ different when I’m inside you. We’re not exactly similar personality types.”

“But that’s our personalities! That doesn’t impact the way we - _I_ \- look.” 

“It kind of does,” Ben sighs. “Look.”

He arrives in Klaus’s body without invitation and it feels, as always, like Ben is consuming his innermost soul, breathing it in and inhaling it out until Klaus is simply a small, insignificant traveller in the frontal lobe of his brain. He’s looking out of his own eyes, unable to even blink them until Ben does it himself. It isn’t a pleasant feeling, for him at least. Ben describes it as  " _completely wild_."

“Stay calm,” Ben tells him, voice sweet and smooth like honey. “We’re gonna take a walk. I want you to see this.”

Klaus does his best to shut his confusion and fear down: he knows that Ben can hear every thought he makes when he’s _in_ here, and it’s not exactly an even match, because Klaus can’t get a read back on Ben’s. His brother becomes the dominant force, able to control Klaus completely, like a marionette, while Klaus can only take reassurance from the fact that it’s not permanent, even though it probably could be if Ben willed it so.

“Don’t worry,” Ben tells him, and Klaus feels his mouth pulling up into a smirk. “I wouldn’t want to be you permanently, Number Four. I know where you’ve been.”

They find Diego in his bedroom, and Klaus immediately scrabbles to keep his thoughts neutral once he sees how handsome their brother looks today, sprawled out on his bed, dozing after another late night defending the city. Ben clears his throat and Diego rolls over, smiling up fondly.

“Hey Kl- oh, _Ben,”_ he corrects himself, eyes widening in surprise. “What’s going on?”

Klaus feels himself whining a little in annoyance. _Am I that easy_ _to distinguish_? he asks.

Ben laughs. “Yeah, you are. That’s what happens when you’re so freakin’ camp, bro.”

 _Fuck you_.

“That’s the plan. Kind of.”

“What’s going on,” Diego asks again, a little more insistent. “Is this about the…” he trails off, but there’s a smirk on his face, which Ben returns in kind.

“Something like that. I’m just proving to Klaus - he’s a little unconvinced - that you’re not going to see _him_ when you’re fucking me, even if I’m using his body.”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s weird. Like one of those magic eye pictures, you know? Objectively I can see you, Klaus, but when I look again, like in a different way, I can really only see Ben. You don’t need to worry about me getting off to _you_. That’s never going to happen.”

Klaus can’t stop himself from responding on a primal, hurt level to _that_ , even though the words are meant to be comforting. Diego has no idea he’s into him, because Klaus has never told him, but for years he had figured that was because Diego saw him - saw all of the Academy - as his proper siblings. Knowing it was just _Klaus_ that he wasn’t attracted to, that he’s perfectly capable of falling into lust, maybe even love, with Ben… it feels… _awful_.

Luckily, Ben chooses not to comment on this particular thought process. He leaps out of Klaus’s body, so the three can talk properly, and Klaus is able to breathe out a sigh of relief as he reflectively moves his body, testing out all his own limbs again.

“You’d be doing us a massive favour, bro,” Ben says. “We’re just…” 

“We really want to bone,” Diego says definitively. “It’s all I can think about recently.”

“Guys, I love you both, you know that,” Klaus says, trying to sound _breezy_ , while inside his heart cracks, “But this is… some screwed up shit, even for me. Maybe if I keep working on my power, keep trying to make Ben fully corporeal, you can do this without my body being used like… your own personal sex doll.”

“That will take too long,” Ben says shortly. “No offence, man, but you’re not the fastest of learners.”

 _Offence very much taken_ , Klaus thinks, a little relieved his brother is no longer able to hear it, though it’s probably written all over his stupid, _camp_ face.

“Seriously, man, I’m your biggest cheerleader. But we've gotta face facts: you’re… easily distracted,” Diego inputs, putting his hand on Klaus's shoulder to massage it a little. Klaus tries not to whimper. “This is almost becoming like an obsession. I just need to… God, we need to fuck so badly. I’ve never felt it this strong before. We can’t wait for you to get your shit together, and with that amount of pressure on you… I know you don’t deal well with being hurried." 

Klaus feels like he’ll probably burst into tears if he hears much more of this. Ben and Diego are both staring at him with matching puppy dog eyes, handsome faces pulled into sad little frowns, and Klaus _hates_ his weak, slow, easily distracted nature, hates it so much for failing him once again.

He sighs, scratching a hand over his face. “I… okay. But just once, right?" 

The smiles he receives from both of them, but especially Diego, almost make it worth it, until he remembers what they’re smiling about. He feels like there’s a war between his stomach and his head for the rest of the day.

 

* * *

 

“You have to wear my clothes if we’re going to do this,” Ben tells Klaus. His brother is staring at him imploringly, trying not to argue back, to be the brat they both know he is. “Diego will see me, we’ve discussed that. But he knows I’d _never_ wear… you know. Frilly underwear, to get my ass fucked. You’ll need to wear regular clothes, with regular boxers underneath.

“Ugh, for real?” Klaus pouts even harder. “Is this some kind of masc4masc convention I’m hosting? Can’t you have a little _fun_ for once, Benny boy? At least some nice patterned briefs, I mean…”

“My bedroom, now, Klaus,” Ben says, hardening his voice with an assertive tone that has Klaus reflexively standing up, never one to disobey a direct order. “You can probably just about fit into my clothes. You know, the ones left over from when I died an innocent virgin.”

“Always with the “I-died-tragically-young” card,” Klaus sighs. But he’s moving, and if he wasn’t, Ben would just control him to do so. “You know, you should be polite to me for at least a _couple_ of minutes, considering I’ve agreed to do this for you.”

Ben smirks, imagining himself being decent to Klaus for two whole minutes, and laughing at the absurdity of that thought. It’s way too much fun, being mean to his only link to the corporeal world. Like a game of roulette that he knows he’ll always win, because Klaus would never think about seriously punishing him for poor behaviour. He’s too needy, too desperate to have people around him. Especially now he’s sober.

It’s a little sad, really, but it suits Ben just fine.

“I can always just taxi your body through this sexy-getting-ready process,” he supplies, and Klaus suddenly looks very panicked as he hurries to pick out some of Ben’s old clothes, Ben rejecting or confirming ones he likes the look of, secretly a little turned on by how Klaus looks once he’s changed into them - an old plaid jumper that pulls a little too high, exposing a thin strip of stomach, smart black jeans that ride low on his brother’s hips, finishing just above the ankle.

“You look terrible,” Ben sighs, and Klaus’s face drops. “ _Buttttt…_ at least you don’t look like a cheap hooker?” He waves jazz hands: _every silver lining_. “Now get changed out of them and shower. Douche. We want to be squeaky clean for my first ever lay, don’t we?”

Klaus nods compliantly, but he’s making that face he makes when he’s forcing himself to be serious, _responsible_. “Ben, are you… are you completely sure about this? Your first time should be special, and this feels-”

“Special as fuck!” Ben chimes in with a laugh. “Come on, Klaus. The stuff you’ve inflicted on my poor innocent eyes over the years, I’m _far_ from some blushing innocent. When you’re cosmically attached to your slut of a brother for over a decade, you learn things you can never unlearn. This is _right_ up my street. Fucked up and wild, it’s practically our family mantra.”

Klaus now looks a little tearful, and still unconvinced, and Ben realises that, as usual, his concern is more about himself than it is about Ben. Strictly speaking, Ben probably _does_ owe him a little bit of reassurance, considering Klaus’s schoolgirl crush on Diego. It is _kind_ of mean, what they’re doing, but goddamnit, Ben wants to get laid, wants Diego like he wants to be able to taste Haagen Daz again, and Klaus has had so many men, so much sex, he really doesn’t need _this_ one too.

“Look, just… sit, for a minute,” Ben tells him. Klaus nods, perching on the side of Ben’s bed. His eyes are wet and shining and Ben wishes he could reach out and stroke that pretty face, in order to feel soft skin underneath his touch.

“I get this is weird for you. It is for me too. And I don’t feel particularly _good_ about doing this with Diego. But you have to know… right… this _isn’t_ about you? We’re not doing this to hurt you. It probably won’t even lead to anything more. I just need your body so I can have a normal, healthy night of intimacy with someone I’m very attracted to, and who I trust, and who is attracted to me, and who won't be freaked out by this.”

He’s talking to Klaus like he’s a little simple, a bit of a child, and he half expects a smart alec reply in response. But Klaus is taking in every word, temporarily sunning himself under the shine of Ben’s warm tone.

“It’s just-” Klaus attempts to counter-argue, but Ben shakes his head warningly.

“Klaus. I know I joke about all the guys I’ve had to watch fuck you, but seriously, man:  _So. Many._ I’ve watched you put yourself in dangerous situation after dangerous situation and there have been times when I’ve felt myself wanting to _scream_ at how trapped that made me feel. You fucking _owe_ me, man, and the more you argue, the more it makes me feel… you’re not really trying very hard to be a good brother, despite all your promises.”

It’s a little harsh, sure, and Ben knows it’s like scratching with a rusty nail at a recently closed wound, the things that Klaus has gone through at the hands of lustful men. It’s not like Ben even really _blames_ Klaus for that; his brother has never been good at saying no, and Ben has used that to his advantage plenty of times.

But all he can think about is how good it will feel to be inside that same brother’s warm, malleable body as Diego fucks it raw.

“Yeah,” Klaus says, his voice weak and chapped. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll do better.”

It’s music to Ben’s ears. He rewards Klaus with the _happiest_ smile.

 

* * *

 

 _Should we have a safeword?_ Klaus asks him tentatively once Ben has taken control of his body for the night. Ben laughs it off.

“A safeword? Can I trust you with one? I don’t want you fucking with me when I’m about to spunk.”

_Ha-ha, like I’d risk a second round._

“Look, I can literally hear your thoughts. I’ll know if you’re genuine, and I’ll stop if you need me to.”

_You promise?_

“Cross my heart and hope to die.”

_Ugh, ghost humor._

Ben checks himself out in the mirror one last time, frowning a little at his appearance, just to keep Klaus on edge - he knows he looks great - before heading down to Diego’s room. He feels a little fizzy with anticipation, though more and more he finds it’s down to the sheer _thrill_ of controlling Klaus’s body completely, in such an intimate act, rather than the more vanilla thought of getting fucked by Diego.

It’s not like he doesn’t want to _do_ that. It’s just… Klaus’s body feels so good, and his nerves and distress are like a heady perfume wrapping themselves around Ben’s… _soul_ ? Do ghosts even _have_ souls? Do they _only_ have souls? He’s never really been sure of the details.

Diego eyes him hungrily as he walks in, and Ben feels Klaus’s butterflies flutter about in his stomach, suddenly experiencing a little guilt that his own response is far more measured and controlled.

It’s not like Diego doesn’t look hot… he always does. But Klaus’s reactions are _strong_ tonight, and it’s messing with Ben’s own natural inclinations. Even as the dominant force in this body, he’s not immune to his brother’s more physical needs, that have nowhere to manifest themselves but _inside_ Ben’s own consciousness.

“Klaus dressed up respectably. Never thought I’d see the day,” Diego remarks. It’s a little playful, also a little cruel, and Klaus responds with a suitable flash of confusion. Then Diego prods at the slightly exposed stomach, and Klaus whimpers in his head. “Well, almost.”

“It didn’t fit him properly. I think he’s put a bit of weight on,” Ben teases.

 _I’m just taller than you!_ Klaus protests. Ben ignores him. 

“Well, you look good,” Diego says, leaning forward to brush his lips across Ben’s. Ben can feel Klaus’s praise mode lighting up like a Christmas tree, until Diego adds, “Ben,” softly, and as quickly as it appeared, it dissolves into the ether.

“You look pretty good yourself,” Ben replies, taking in Diego’s figure hungrily. He’s gone on full-on leather daddy for this - the harness still very much in place, after Ben confessed it was a common fantasy of his to have it wrapped around his neck, a blue ribbed t-shirt underneath, emphasising his brother’s enormous biceps. This was _definitely_ worth the wait, and Ben can barely contain himself as he pushes Diego down onto the bed, straddling him confidently.

“I think you’re forgetting whose topping,” Diego says, a smile on his handsome face, which Ben responds to with a silencing peck on the lips.

“I don’t want you to take it easy on me, so I’m going to get you warmed up.”

 _Remember, I want to be able to walk tomorrow_ , Klaus reminds him.

Ben doesn’t need to be reminded of that. In fact, it’s precisely why he’s planning to let Diego absolutely _destroy_ him tonight.

They make quick work of their clothes, though Diego keeps Ben’s jumper on. “It’s easier for me to maintain the illusion”, he says, “Plus… Klaus’s body is kind of a bit untoned for my taste.”

Klaus’s indignant cry goes straight to Ben’s hardening cock.

Diego keeps the harness close to hand. Throughout the undressing ceremony - and it _does_ feel like a ceremony - Ben can feel Klaus’s anxiety rippling through him like a warm, bracing breeze. He’s sure that isn’t what it feels like for Klaus, but Ben has conditioned himself to climb aboard Klaus’s distress over the years, instead of letting it consume him whole like it does Klaus. That same breeze easily does the job of getting him fully hard, aching for it, as he stretches the lithe body out over the bedsheets and performs like a whore for Diego’s approval.

 _I feel like a puppet, I feel like an object, a sex doll, I don’t feel good, I don’t like this_ , Klaus is thinking, his inner thought process wildly unrestrained by the time Diego starts lubing up. He’s _shining_ in fear, projecting through the body, almost enough to take control of it again, when Diego wraps the harness around Ben’s neck and begins to pull.

_Please Ben this is so weird Ben please just-_

“Harder,” Ben pants, grunting in arousal as Diego tightens the strap. “Harder, daddy.”

“Daddy? I thought Klaus was one with all the Daddy issues?” Diego chuckles, as he complies with Ben’s request.

Ben chokes out, “We’ve… all… got...them….” and Diego laughs in response as Klaus cringes inside of him, mortified. _Jeez, when did he get so frigid?_ Ben wonders dreamily, as the noose pulls tighter.

He’s about to pass out, blissfully aware of the pain Diego is inflicting on him, but not really _him._ Like, sure it hurts now, but it’ll be worse tomorrow, and Klaus will be the sole recipient of those harsh markings and bruises. He knows it, Diego knows it, and neither of them seem to care. They really could do anything with this body, treat it as carelessly as they like, and Klaus would have no recourse to stop them.

It’s heady and intoxicating, a strange by-product of an experience Ben had assumed would be hot, but not _next level_ hot.

Finally Diego lets go, the harness slackening around his neck, and Ben barely has time to recover from it when he feels his brother pushing straight into his hole, no attempt to ease in slowly. “Kind of loose, for a so called virgin,” he taunts, and Ben squeals with delight as he spreads his long legs. Klaus _smarts_ at that remark, knowing who it’s aimed at, really.

“Is a virgin still a virgin when his body has been used by a hundred men?” Ben ponders, his voice deliciously hoarse. “Ancient Asian proverb, right there.”

 _Et tu_? Klaus asks despondently, and Ben can’t help but reassure him, “We’re just playing, baby.”

Diego meets his eyes for a moment, clearly taken out of the moment, before he pushes in a little further, bringing Ben’s legs over his shoulder.

“Wanted this for so long, Ben,” he says. “Ever since I saw you again. Missed you so much.”

“Missed you too, Dee,” Ben sighs. “Truly. All those times, watching you, not able to reach out to you - it fucking killed me.”

There’s that guilt again, that Klaus always radiates when he’s reminded of how long he kept Ben relegated to invisible ghost status due to his own lack of progress, shaken with a twist of sadness at Diego’s loving words to Ben.

Well, he _should_ feel bad, Ben thinks, a little spitefully.

He’s soon distracted by Diego bottoming out with his rock hard cock, far less gentle than he’d probably be under usual circumstances - Diego had confessed to Ben during a late night chat that the reason he finds it hard to find suitable sexual partners is because he can’t ever be as rough as he wants - and Ben just pushes back, strangely disassociated from the pain because he knows he won’t suffer any lasting repercussions from it.

He smiles headily as Diego starts jackhammering in, his large body covering Ben completely, pushing him down into the bed. He leans down and begins sucking into Ben's neck, teeth digging into that pale skin as he leaves his mark, and Ben honestly thinks he might be in heaven.

But it’s not Diego himself that’s doing this - it’s Klaus’s reactions throughout. He’s so distressed, so adorably _confused_ , his mind retreating inwards, so he’s not even attempting to have a conversation with Ben anymore. But there’s nowhere for him to hide in there, Ben can still hear everything, and he’s getting off _so_ completely to the way Klaus is shaking, trembling, whining, but still receptive to Diego… who of _course_ he’s still in love with, that lying little whore... being inside his body, physically, as Ben keeps him pinned to it but not in control of it.

He almost doesn’t realise when he comes, so powerful has his arousal been throughout - but he definitely notices when Diego starts filling his ass up, the topic of condoms not even discussed ( _Not like Klaus hasn’t been barebacked and filled up by countless men_ , he justifies to himself), Klaus reacting with shock and an overwhelming sense of shame at how carelessly his body has been used.

Ben lingers in it for a while, wrapping himself up in that feeling of self-disgust, distress, but also a kind of needy longing, when Diego spoons in from behind, pulling his cock out with a certain degree of gentleness now he’s been satisfied.

“That was so good,” Diego tells him, pressing kisses against his ear, as Klaus keens with happiness.

“Maybe one day, our lazy little brother will learn how to get my actual body involved,” Ben says, a quick reminder that the compliment _wasn’t_ for Klaus, who accordingly shrinks further back into his mind. “Until then, this works, I guess."

Diego grunts noncommittally and Ben nestles back into the firm body, in no rush to leave it yet. He’ll wait until he starts feeling uncomfortable, sticky from the load inside his ass, and then he’ll send Klaus back to his bedroom on his own. It’s right, Ben thinks, that Klaus has the responsibility of cleaning himself out.

Then Klaus starts to fidget, uncomfortable and restless in his head, no longer able to pretend the hug was for him, and Ben sternly tells him out loud to keep the noise down.

 

* * *

 

“Well, _that_ was an experience,” Ben exclaims, upon returning to Diego’s bedroom later, after walking Klaus back. He’s back in his ghost form, familiar hoodie, height, face - all the stuff Diego has been lusting after for weeks, and is now already a bit old-hat. “Did you enjoy it?”

“Sure,” Diego says, shrugging. He pats the bed next to him, and Ben jumps onto it, but there’s no tell-tell depression of weight. “It was great, baby.”

“Cut the bullshit,” Ben laughs. “I’m not your _baby_ , and I’m not Klaus, so you can’t lie to me. Give me something a little less generic than _great_.”

Diego feels something forbidden prickle inside of him. Is this really a conversation he wants to have with Ben?

“I had a good time. It was hot, getting to be so rough with you. But…”

“But?” Ben prompts him, when he trails off. Diego sighs, feeling like the sickest son-of-a-bitch in the world.

“But… it wasn’t _you_ I was enjoying, y’know, fucking that roughly. I thought I’d just see you, and I kind of did… but at the same time, I was really getting off on how helpless Klaus must have felt, trapped in there.”

“His body basically being a receptacle for us?” Ben shades in, and Diego nods, before his eyes widen.

“You felt the same way?!”

“Seriously, dude, it was _so_ hot. You should have heard him, whining and crying and freaking out in my mind. Just… completely helpless.”

“Wow.”

“Yep,” Ben agrees, nodding. “It’s not my fault, though. He’s basically done the same shit to me for years. Made me watch as he gets fucked by half the rough trade daddies in the city. This felt good. Like... the punishment fitting the crime.”

 _Is it the same_? Diego wonders. Ben has told him before that he isn’t tied to Klaus _constantly_ , that he can wander off for lengthy periods at a time whenever he likes, that sometimes he even makes a game of it, knowing it fucks with Klaus’s head a little.

It doesn’t feel _quite_ equal to what they did to Klaus. But Diego needs some reassurance that he isn’t a monster, and Ben seems pretty happy to validate that.

“He could have said no at any point,” his brother continues, “If that’s what you’re thinking. We had a safeword, and he didn’t use it. Secretly I think he’s enough of a freak to be into it. He’s objectified his own body for years - why should he be afraid of his brothers doing the same thing?”

Diego hums, trying to buy a little time as he works out his own response to the conversation.

“If you could have heard him...” Ben says, his voice dipping low, “Every time you said my name. The sheer _shock_ he felt. Fuck, it was so hot. You have to know how into you he is, right?”

“Sure. I mean… he isn’t exactly subtle. I just never wanted to make things messy between us, y’know? Once I fucked him, he’d start to have expectations. I don’t do well with expectations.”

“Well, this strikes me as a bullet=proof way to ensure he doesn’t get all delusional about your feelings for him. You can fuck him, guilt-free, and he’s _always_ going to know it’s not about him. Don’t you think that’s kind of perfect?”

Ben glances down towards Diego’s hardening cock, a smile on his pretty face. “Looks like we’re in agreement.”

“Tell me again how he reacted when I said your name.”

“Like we’d both slapped him round the face at exactly the same time,” Ben whispers, and Diego feels a delicious, forbidden heat inside of him, the image of Klaus hurt, helpless, as he watches Diego bestowing affection on the wrong brother.

“And, _fuck_ , when we talked about him… about how he was loose, used… I wish you could have felt that, Dee. He was _so_ sad, so hopeless, so accepting of what a little slut he’s been.”

 _Fuck_ , Diego thinks, his hand speeding up. “Carry on,” he instructs, and Ben curls onto his side, looking up at him with that sarcastic, quick-witted expression he’s developed over the years, that he never really had as a kid.

“The whole time he was caught between lusting after you, knowing I could feel that, and trying to disguise it from me - Jesus, intelligence never was his strong suit - to being fucked up about you fucking _me_ , not him. Just… the whole time, I was doing my best to make sure he really _felt_ it, felt that shame but also that longing, that desire, which he had no outlet for.”

“What was he thinking when he saw my cock? Was he gagging for it?” Diego asks through gritted teeth, his hand a blur as he beats off noisily.

“He’s a total cock hungry whore. He wasn’t sad because he didn’t want it, he was sad that he wanted it and couldn’t have it. Couldn’t have you. Just had to take it, like a dumpster, a convenient hole for you to offload in.”

It’s the second time Diego has come that night, and it’s no less impressive when he stares down at his spilled load.

“Should I get him back here, make him clean it up?” Ben asks, still wanting to play with this. But Diego feels shame creeping in, now he’s done the deed, and his bedsheets showcase the fruits of his indiscretions.

“Leave him alone,” he says. “That’s enough, bro.”

He doesn’t sound all that convincing, even to himself.

 

* * *

 

Klaus studies them over the next family meal. Ben and Diego are always sat together now, as Klaus struggles to find a place that feels like _his_. For years he’d been separated from Diego by Allison, the numbers clear and never-changing, but even now that Reginald is gone, he still can’t find a way to slip in quickly enough to the golden ticketed chair.

One time he’d made a joke of it, sitting on Ben’s ‘lap’, really just sinking straight through him. The others hadn’t exactly been impressed, especially when Ben had sternly told him his feelings had been hurt.

“You’re quiet today,” Allison points out, her hand reaching for his forehead, an instinctual motherly reaction. “Are you feeling okay, baby?”

He nods, eyes darting over to where Diego and Ben are huddled together, laughing about something under their breaths. He pulls his scarf up, worried she’ll see the bite that Diego left him.. no, wait... Ben.

Instead, though, her eyes follow his, and she frowns. “Want to hang out this evening? Face mask Friday?”

“He can’t,” Ben says, immediately, and Klaus looks at him, confused, trying to remember if they’d made plans already. “Diego’s taken the night off from playing Batman to hang out with us. Even numbers unite!”

“That’s not a thing,” Luther chimes in sullenly. “If you’re having a guy’s night, I should be invited.”

“No, you shouldn’t,” Diego says, sounding mildly disgusted. He’s never fully accepted the ‘forgive and forget’ mantra the rest of them have been trying to live by in recent months; Vanya and Luther are still very much on his shit list, and now he has Ben _and_ Klaus to surround himself with, in order to block out the annoyances of the rest of the family, he’s become even less accommodating.

Luther scowls, turning to Five. “Even numbers isn’t a thing, is it?”

“I don’t care,” Five remarks. “I’d cut down this ridiculous ‘family time’ to briefing about missions, full stop, if it was up to me.”

“Is that what you want to do, Klaus? Hang out with those two?” Allison tries again, bringing her hand down to his and squeezing. Some days, Klaus laps up her concern like catnip, but today he’s feeling a little frazzled, still trying to process being with his family after what he did with Diego and Ben two nights ago. Everything feels wrong, off-kilter, and he doesn't think he deserves Allison’s kindness right now.

“Silly old me,” he says, reaching forward for some bread. “We arranged it _ages_ ago. Sorry, Alli! Skincare Saturday instead?”

She nods, but he thinks another comment is on the tip of her tongue. He crams a chunk of bread in his mouth to avoid having to answer it.

“Oops, guess we know why my sweater didn’t fit properly,” Ben tells him, and Klaus is relieved to change the subject, even if it means brushing off the (most likely true) dig at his appearance.

“Your old sweaters wouldn’t have fit a twelve year old girl, you dweeb," he says through a mouthful. 

After that he plays with the rest of his meal, not really eating it properly, as Diego and Ben giggle to themselves, the rest of the family already moving onto the next topic.

 

* * *

 

“ _S_ _ooo_ , even numbers hanging out, just doing Even Number Things, right?” Klaus asks, his tone hopeful but with a fissure of nervousness underneath that Diego spots right away. _So he knows what’s going to happen_ , Diego reassures himself. _He still wants this_.

And anyway, Ben is on hand, of course, a master of persuasion, ready to convince Klaus into doing anything and everything, even if Number Four isn’t quite on board yet.

“That’s cute, bro, but... no. You know why we’re here.”

 _Here_ is Klaus’s bedroom. Klaus had been putting off coming to find his brothers, Diego can tell by the way he’s tidying up when they come in - something he _never_ usually does - and that’s why they’d sought him out instead.

“And you know,” Ben continues, “that once was never going to be enough, right? After last time. You _felt_ it, you must have done, the connection Diego and I had? You might have said it was a one-off, but now... you get things have changed.”

Diego notices the way Klaus has tensed up slightly now that they’re all up in his personal space. He holds himself differently when he’s around the two of them these days; there’s no real bite back, less of the theatrics. He wants to put it down to post-sex awkwardness, but when he thinks back, he begins to understand it’s been happening for a while. It’s like he’s constantly second guessing himself. It’s… well, Diego _knows_ he shouldn’t approve, but this is secretly how he’s always fantasised about Klaus: the brashness stripped away, just the sweet, needy little kid underneath that Diego loves seeing.

“I just… the amount of time you were in me. It didn’t _feel_ right. I don’t…” Klaus is shaking his head weakly, hands wrapping into the dirty laundry he’s picked up from the floor. Diego strides forward, gripping at his wrists until he drops it.

“Klaus, baby, come on. You really think Ben or I would let anything bad happen to you?”

He knows that Klaus wants this, deep down. If he hadn’t, if he’d truly wanted it to stop, he’d have used the safe word with Ben. He wouldn’t even be considering it right now. Diego knows he’s scared, can see it in the way his eyes are flitting from one brother to another, pleadingly, looking for an out. But Diego can’t stop thinking about the other night; he can’t stop thinking about an utterly helpless Klaus, submitting so fully, a truly selfless act, as Diego and Ben get off to this blatant act of objectification.

Klaus smiles, big green eyes wide and hopeful - always so fucking _hopeful_ \- and Diego remembers the game they’re playing here, adding, “You’re our brother. Our baby brother. We might want to fuck each other raw, but you’re special to us in a different way. We’d never hurt you.”

He’s transfixed by how pretty Klaus looks with wet, shining eyes. He leans forward and kisses him on the head, chastely. Klaus lets out a quivering breath, says, “Fine, I’ll do it,” and Diego has hardly processed the statement before he sees Klaus jolt a little, his eyes switching, imperceptibly, becoming… quicker, less emotional.

Maybe… maybe _crueller_?

“Well, you heard the slut. Let’s do it,” Ben tells him. He gets on his knees, mouth travelling over Diego’s leather pants, outlining his dick with his hands as he gropes at it lustily.

“Want you to face fuck me. Want it to _hurt_ ,” he says, reaching for the zipper. Diego is helpless under Ben’s quick fingers, backing up against the wall as his pants are peeled down to his knees.

“Time to air these balls out.”

“Gross, man.”

“You’re the one who insists on wearing leather!”

It’s a bit of a headfuck, seeing Klaus’s face when he looks down, but stripped of all insecurity, all neediness. It’s a bit like fucking his evil twin - and Diego kind of realises now that Ben _has_ acted in a similar capacity for years.

He’s... not against it? In fact he’s really into it. But he’s still reeling from the fact that he was just talking to Klaus, trying to coax him into giving up his body, and now he’s fucking that same body as Ben luxuriates within the pale skin.

 _Are you in there_ , Diego wonders, as he pumps his cock gently against the plump lips of Klaus’s mouth. _Are you really enjoying this?_

It’s impossible to tell, because Ben is as cock hungry as Klaus regularly professes to be, but in an entirely different way. He revels in taking it deep, effortlessly engulfing it whole, something Diego thinks Klaus would never have managed. His suspicions are confirmed when Ben pulls away to chuckle, “Jeez, for years he convinced me he had an overactive gag reflex. Fucking bull. Bitch was just lazy.”

Diego’s cock pulses at that; he leans against the wall and breathes in and out a few times, focusing on not coming there and then. Ben’s laughter has increased, as he says, “Shut the fuck up, Klaus, if you don’t want me to treat you like a whiny bitch then stop acting like one.”

Then he’s back on Diego’s length, expertly taking it, pulling at Diego’s hips to encourage him to thrust.

Diego thrusts. He slams in _hard_ , feeling it scrape against the back of Klaus’s… Ben’s… what the _fuck_ ever’s throat. Ben is digging into his ass with grasping fingers, encouraging it, drool collecting at Diego’s ballsack as he impales himself fully.

And then the hands on his ass drop away, slackening, and Diego looks across to see Ben standing on his level, raising an eyebrow. On his knees, Klaus has no choice but to continue, because Diego is still gripping the back of his head tightly. When Diego stares down he sees his brother’s green eyes, wild and helpless and full to the brim with messy tears.

Diego can’t stop himself. He can’t _stop_ himself. He continues to thrust savagely.

Then Ben disappears back inside of their brother’s body, and Diego actually feels his legs give out when he finally unloads, the contents of his dick pouring down the raw, abused throat, some bubbling up to his mouth.

He watches, slumped down on the floor, fully undone by this, as Ben - it’s definitely all Ben again - grins at him, winking, before he leaps back out of Klaus’s body. Diego leans forward, pulling Klaus close to him, as his brother begins to sob in his arms.

“Hurts,” he manages, and Diego hushes him understandingly." 

“I know, I know, baby. You’re so good for us. You’re so good for doing this.”

“You’ve finally started thinking of someone other than yourself,” Ben tells him, in an according tone. Diego notices Klaus tense a little, just minutely, and it makes him pull him closer, feeling a small ripple of protectiveness that might just turn into a wave, one of these days.

 

* * *

 

Maybe Ben has been pushing Klaus too hard recently. He enjoys it, that feeling of control, in a spectral form that’s ultimately so lacking in it, and he sees it as Klaus’s burden to bear: after all, why else would he be given this power, if not to subjugate himself to Ben’s needs?

But it’s not as much fun when Klaus becomes silent, accepting. Ben likes to see his submission, but he enjoys Klaus’s scrappiness, the salt before the tequila.

“You okay, baby?” Ben asks him. Klaus is lying still in his bed, trying to make himself invisible. He doesn’t want to deal with Ben tonight, that much is clear. But he sighs wearily, propping himself up, knowing he has no choice.

“I don’t want you calling me that,” he says, a little tentatively. Ben has to smile; for some reason, they’ve taken to referring to Klaus as _baby_ recently. Even Allison and Luther join in. They see him as the youngest, the one that needs the most care, now that Vanya has her feet firmly back on the ground, and in turn it’s making him less eloquent, less sure of himself.

“You _are_ my baby, though.”

“Then stop-” Klaus starts, his voice choking up, and Ben tries not to roll his eyes. “I can’t keep doing this, Ben. It’s… it’s too much.”

He isn’t being overdramatic, not really; the sex has become a regular occurence, and Ben has been pushing it further each time, sometimes leaving Klaus’s body for whole minutes at a time, getting off on the knowledge that Klaus has no idea when he’s going to be going from a spectator to an active (yet curiously _not_ active, because Diego has no will power, God bless him) participant.

Ben explains it away simply, pretending he has no control over it - Diego just literally fucks him out of Klaus’s body sometimes, he’s _that_ good.

And while this has been happening, he’s also been encouraging Diego to be rougher, more brutal, with each passing fuck, knowing Number Two can never resist the gauntlet being thrown down.

Despite all that, though, it’s still the smallest thing that hurts Klaus the most: that it’s still Ben, and not Klaus, that Diego is professing to fuck.

 _Was I this much of an idiot when I was still alive_? Ben wonders. He thinks maybe he was. He remembers being very scared back then, of the fear of pain, the feeling of revulsion he felt at having monsters inside of his body. All of those insecurities tend to rot away like so much debris when there’s no earthly reason to hold onto them.

Now, Ben loves wielding his tentacles like an octopus - multi-faceted, _luminous_ \- each time they’re in mortal peril and Klaus’s powers kick up a notch. And he doesn’t understand _fear_ , doesn’t experience _pain:_  with each passing year they spin further and further from his recollection.

“Ben?”

Klaus has taken his reflections for something else, something beneficial to his cause. He’s staring hopefully at him, reaching out for his hand, and Ben is surprised to see him managing it, a little more effortlessly than usual.

“Ben, please. It’s gone far enough.”

“I’m in love with him,” Ben says absently. “Diego. I… I think I love him, Klaus.”

Klaus blinks at him dumbly, and Ben understands in that moment the lies he’s willing to tell in order to keep his sweet baby brother exactly where he wants him.

“I-” Klaus chokes out, his voice faltering. “I-”

“I know it’s a shock,” Ben continues, slowly, bringing Klaus’s hand up to his mouth and kissing it chastely. “Talk about screwed up, right? But when I think about not being with him, a lifetime of not being able to touch him, to fuck him, I can feel my spirit start to fade. It scares me, man. I don’t know what heartache can do to a ghost, but… it’s probably not anything good, right?”

 _Fuck_ , he wants to ravish Klaus when he’s like this, so pathetically frightened of everything: of Ben staying, and having Diego, and Ben not having Diego, and not staying. _You’re mine_ , Ben thinks, hungrily. _You’re always going to be mine_.

“Can you do it for me, bro? Can you carry on letting me _be_ with him?”

“I know what it was like… losing Dave. How I wanted to disappear.” Klaus’s voice is shaking, and Ben bites back a growl of disapproval at _that_ name. “I’ll do anything, Ben, just… just don’t go away,” Klaus tells him. “Please don’t ever go away.”

His brother’s pretty face is pale, ashen, not just from the shock, but from the sheer _effort_ he’s making to keep Ben corporeal for long enough to touch him, as Ben is doing, hands on his face, his neck, pulling him inwards.

“I love you so much, baby,” Ben tells him, his mouth meeting Klaus’s, puckering gently. “No homo, obvs.”

Klaus manages a pained laugh. “Are you sure about that?”

“Well. Just for dumb hot leather daddies.”

Ben says it just to see that beautiful flash of green-eyed betrayal again.

He takes it, drinks it down, adds it to the collection of Klaus’s pain that he’s sewing together like a beautiful, twisted tapestry among the tentacles in his stomach.


End file.
